HIGHTSTOWN: Aughenbaugh leaves preservation panel

By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
   HIGHTSTOWN — Former Mayor Amy Aughenbaugh has stepped down from the borough commission she helped create.
   Ms. Aughenbaugh said she recently decided to resign from the borough’s Historic Preservation Commission because of scheduling conflicts with new commitments. She said the chief reason was her recent appointment as chairwoman of Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey.
   ”It is a volunteer position, but it will take up lots of my time,” she said.
   Ms. Aughenbaugh also is the executive director of the Hightstown Housing Authority.
   Ms. Aughenbaugh helped establish the commission in 2001 as the Democratic mayor of the borough and was named to the commission by Republican Mayor Bob Patten shortly after he defeated her in the 2002 election.
   ”I really enjoyed my time on the commission, particularly helping to establish the historic district,” she said Wednesday. “It was a difficult decision to leave, but I will stay involved in the community in other ways as well.”
   In addition to Ms. Aughenbaugh, commission member Nichole L’Vov has resigned. She first joined the commission in 2006 and said she also is leaving because of other commitments.
   ”I definitely enjoyed my time on the commission. I learned a lot, and I wish them the best,” Ms. L’Vov said Wednesday.
   Julie Ely, of East Windsor, is expected to fill one of the vacated positions, according to commission Chairwoman Christian Fitzpatrick.
   Ms. Ely is an active member of the Hightstown-East Windsor Historical Society and the chairwoman of the society’s museum. She often writes the histories of the old homes on the society’s tour of the borough, according to Ms. Fitzpatrick.
   ”She knows more about some of the homes in Hightstown than the owners do,” Ms. Fitzpatrick said Thursday.